People looking to construct buildings next to Defence lands will have to wait a bit more to get clearance from the Armed Forces.
The Indian Army has asked the State Government to give it more time to OK applications forwarded to it by the Secretary, Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. According to Army officials, the stipulated 30 days is too short a period for processing the applications.
Instead, the time limit should be upped to four-six months, they said. The Army made its request at a civil-military liaison conference held here on Friday. The Kerala Building and Municipality Rules, 1999, require the Corporation Secretary to consult local military authorities before issuing NoCs for such constructions.
In fact, no construction is allowed within 100 metres of Defence land, and for multi-storeyed buildings of four stories and above, the distance limit is 500 metres. According to Army officials, even Defence land now vacant should be treated in this manner since the Armed Forces have various projects in the pipeline.
Chief Secretary K Jayakumar told the Army that the Government would examine the proposal for increasing the time limit.